Abstract
The East African nations form a cohesive unit in discussions on moist forests as they share the problems of small, fragmented areas of forest under extreme pressure of encroachment and exploitation. Yet these forest patches, in most countries making up less than 2 per cent of the land area, have great significance for both water catchment and for the conservation of biological diversity. While East Africa has long been noted for its excellent network of protected areas, these were usually developed for savanna animals — not for forest biota. Despite high diversity and endemism among plants, birds, mammals and other taxa, few forest areas are included in the national parks network. Forest reserve status, while no longer allowing clear-felling, does permit heavy levels of exploitation and often cannot prevent encroachment. With the deteriorating economic situation there has been a reduction in management capability and it is likely that the biodiversity of East Africa’s forests will be increasingly at risk in the future.
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Rodgers, A. (1992). Eastern Africa. In: Sayer, J.A., Harcourt, C.S., Collins, N.M. (eds) The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12961-4_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12961-4_17
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